Study of workplace friendship factors in Indonesia’s perspective for Japanese MNC in Indonesia

Abstract

The existence of Multinational Companies (MNC) is already common in today's era. Despite the successes and benefits of MNC's existence, a number of issues are still frequently encountered as a result of cultural differences between members of the organization. These differences, if not addressed properly, will interfere workplace relationships, which will ultimately interfere the organization's daily activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the dominant factor of workplace relationship from the point of view of Indonesian for MNC from Japan operating in Indonesia, in this case in Jababeka industrial area, Bekasi, Indonesia. This study began on June 2013 until September 2016, at 2 (two) Japanese heavy equipment MNC’s, and applied Constructivism research paradigm, Inductive (Qualitative) research methodology. Observation, participant observation, and in-depth interviews were used as research techniques. This study also implemented Emergent Theory and Processual Approach. This study included 18 Indonesian employee informants, The production section employees was taken as the focal point of the study. Once the data obtained, a set of analysis with the tools of Word Counts, Cluster Analysis and Word Cloud applied. This study resulted 2 (two) important dimensions, namely (1) similar local items and (2) similar informal activities.

Keywords: workplace relationship, Japanese MNC, Indonesia’s perspective, similar local items, similar informal activities